Mastertek Insights

As a recent puppy-mum, I was delighted to see this initiative from BrewDog – Paid Puppy Parental Leave!

Research, including our own, continues to show that traditional approaches to reward can be ineffective and often simply reflect ‘custom and practice’ and the ongoing desire of many organisations to ‘do what everyone else is doing’…..  We loved this example  of an organisation bucking the trend and doing something different to attract the kinds of employees they really value – Good Reward indeed!

NRG's membership includes companies from across the industrial, mining, energy and oil & gas sectors.  Visit their website further information on how to become a member.

We are currently seeking expressions of interest from those keen to participate in our annual contract day rates survey run in partnership with NRG.  Contact us to confirm your interest and we'll be in touch with participation details.

There is no doubt that incentives and commission-based reward plans continue to be a critical element of an effective sales strategy.  When badly designed or implemented plans are put in place the impact on the salesforce can be significant - for all the wrong reasons.

Great design is one thing, but implementing it is another challenge altogether. I've written plenty on the subject of designing good remuneration and reward propositions(click here for more), as that's what I spend a lot of time doing.  I also spend a lot of time working with clients to implement change and over the years we've seen all kinds of barriers put up by different stakeholders.  The solution is to address those barriers during the design phase, as I'll explain further.  I'd like to start though by offering some observations on the reasons why reward plan design may not always translate into practice.

The function and nature of executive and employee reward continues to be the subject of much debate.   Unless fortunate enough to have found our one true calling or to be financially independent, most of us do not have the liberty to  present for work without asking for a reasonable salary in return.  From an employer's perspective, offering a fair level of fixed remuneration makes good sense – in so far as one would hope that the individual feels obliged to turn up for work on a consistent basis if nothing else!

There is no doubt that the traditional performance review has, in many organisations, become a largely unsatisfactory process for all involved.  Does that mean the concept itself is flawed or is it more that the execution, like many other commonly adopted business processes, has been diluted over many years of application – where the benefits and principles of the original concept have been lost and replaced by custom and practice handed down and often diluted over the years?